Keeping a closed heart
by zololuver247
Summary: A girl, a past, and a strong hate for pirates. Can the captain get through her closed heart?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece (but it would be so awesome if I did)

I do own a couple OCs in this story though...this is the first time I've done this so please comment and tell me what you think :)

Hope you enjoy!

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"I see land!" Ussop called from the crows nest.

"Finally!" Luffy climbed to the front of the Thousand Sunny. The crew had been sailing for weeks without a destination and were starting to run low on food supply. A couple hours later they were docked and starting to explore the small town of Thea.

"Thea? I've never hear of such a place." Nami walked from the docks towards the shops ahead. Everyone else followed behind except for Brooke and Chopper who stayed back to guard the ship.

"Who cares as long as we can find some good food around here" Luffy started to sniff around and found an amazing smell. He was about to run towards it but was snagged from behind by Nami.

"Remember to meet back here in 2 hours alright? And don't be late. I'm gunna go shop for some charts and hopefully new clothes." She looked down at her dirty shirt and sighed.

"I'm going to see what ingredients I can find." Sanji said walking towards the market.

"Sword shop." Zolo said bluntly

"Books." Robin smiled. As everyone went their own ways Ussop and Franky looked at each other.

"Come on! Lets see what we can find." Franky grabbed Ussop and started to drag him towards the shops too.

Luffy arrived at a bar and had his usual rounds of food. After an hour went by he finally exited the bar leaving astonished looks and started to wander around to see what else he could find. He was passing a wide alley that veered off to another part of town when he noticed a large group of men huddled around a corner. They were all laughing. Curious, Luffy drew closer to the group, wondering what they were laughing at.

"Come on! Don't be shy!" one man shouted

"Ya! We won't hurt you!" Another one teased. As Luffy got closer he was able to see a young lady backed into a corner clearly scared.

_Those dirty scumbags!_Luffy started to run towards the girl to help her but suddenly a dark figure dropped down from the roofs above and landed with a light thud. The figure was in a crouched position with its head bent, facing towards the group of men and its back to the girl.

"Well, look what we have here." A light voice echoed through the alley.


	2. Chapter 2

Skidding to a stop, Luffy stepped into the shadows and peered around the corner.

"I thought I heard a party. Turns out to be a bunch of drunk bastards who have nothing better to do." The figure straightened up to reveal her sharp brown eyes and growing smirk.

"What? Why you-" one of them lurched forward and swung quickly with his right arm. The woman stepped casually to the side, dodging it, then grabbed his arm and threw him against the wall effortlessly. He slid to the ground and laid there unconscious. Everyone starred at the unmoving heap before looking up at the woman.

"So, who's next?" the woman looked around with a sly smile on her face.

To Luffy's surprise all the men burst out laughing but the woman remained smiling. As the laughing died down one of the men shouted "So you really think you'll be able to take us all on at once?"

Everyone started pulling out their weapons, grinning wickedly. "By the time we're through with you, you'll wish you were dead. Same with that little brat behind you!" The little girl shrunk back.

The woman's grin only grew wider "That's the cheesiest line I've ever heard. But if it's true, why don't you show me." Four men immediately charged towards her with their swords raised but in a flash all their attacks were blocked. In each hand she held daggers, both of which were repelling all incoming blows. Suddenly at a frightening speed, she was on the other side of the attackers who suddenly stood frozen. Then blood started coming from open gashes in their stomach, legs and arms. They all collapsed. No time passed before the next attackers were on her. In a sequence of leaps, dodges, kicks and punches she made her way through the first line. Taking a quick step back, she held her hands out next to her, making a T shape.

"1,000 flying daggers." She chanted and in 2 seconds the men started getting small cuts all over their body. They all yelped and cried in pain and finally the last man standing fell on the ground, ending the fight.

The woman sighed before turning to the little girl who stared in shock at the mess. "Are you alright?" the woman asked kindly. The little girl shrank even deeper into the corner. "It's alright. You don't need to be afraid. I won't hurt you." She bent down and extended her hand out to the little girl. Pushing off the wall, the little girl ran to the woman and started sobbing into her chest. The woman hugged her tightly and tried to comfort her. After the sobbing finally subsided, the little girl pulled away and bowed her head.

"Thank you for saving me." The woman chuckled and put a hand on her head.

"I'm just glad you're safe. Go on and hurry home now. And be careful." The little girl smiled and nodded before running out of the alley.

Sighing, the woman slumped against the wall and tilted her head up to the sky. "I know you're there. There's no use hiding anymore."

Stepping forward, Luffy squinted as he looked up at the light. As his eyes finally adjusted, he brought his head back down to look at the woman now standing in front of him.


	3. Chapter 3

Hellooooooo! DISCLAIMER! etc etc...(in case you didn't know what i meant: I don't own one piece unfortunately)  
Please please pleeeeease review...i really really want to know what you think about the story so far...thank you!

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She stood at the other end of the alley, with her arms crossed. Luffy looked at her fully for the first time and noticed she was slightly shorter than him and her skin was a hair darker than his which made it seem like a natural tan. She had short curly hair that matched her soft brown eyes but her face was unreadable.

"Who are you and what the hell do you want here?" She asked bored.

"My name's Monkey D. Luffy. I want you to join my crew!" He replied.

Startled, her eyes widened. "I'm sorry?"

"I want you to join my crew!" Luffy repeated.

She opened her mouth to argue with him but was cut off by someone calling down the street.

"Luffy! Luffy! Where are you!" Nami had her hands cupped around her mouth and was about to call for the thousandth time when she spotted him from the corner of her eye. "There you are! Hey everyone! I found him!" Nami shouted over her shoulder before running towards the alley.

"Hey Nami! Look who I-" But before Luffy finished his sentence, he was hit upside the head.

"I told you to be back at the docks in 2 hours! And of course, you're not there!" She grabbed him by the shirt and started to shake him when she noticed the woman standing further down the alley. "Oh…I'm so sorry if he disturbed you. Please pardon us." She bowed toward the woman and forced Luffy to do the same. The rest of the crew appeared at the entrance of the alley and looked to see what was happening.

"But Nami! She's a part of our crew now! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Luffy said pushing her hand away.

"Well then why didn't you say something?" Nami hit him on the head again.

"Hey! Sorry to break up your little lover's quarrel but don't I get a say in this?" The woman shouted.

"You mean you haven't accepted his request yet?" Nami looked unsurprised.

"No I haven't and frankly I don't want to…I hate pirates…I always have and always will."

"I'm not going anywhere until you join my crew…what will it take for you to come along?" Luffy asked.

"Nothing in this entire world will make me join your crew." She replied fiercely.

"Then how about a dual." Zolo cut in. He was starting to get tired of the endless arguing. "If Luffy wins then you join the crew but if you win then we'll leave you alone and you can go on with your regular life."

"That's fine with me. How about it? A fight between me and you." Luffy started to get excited.

Sighing, she finally gave up.

"Fine. We'll dual. But my name's not 'you'. It's April."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer yadda yadda yadda...I don't own one piece :(

Please review! I don't care how bad the review is, I just want some feedback!

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"Alright, the rules are simple. The first person to get hit in the stomach loses. You have to stay in the alley to prevent any attention being drawn to us and you may use any means necessary to win. Good luck to the both of you." Once Zolo finished explaining, he walked over to the rest of the group who were at the entrance of the alley. "Begin!"

Jumping back, April threw out four daggers then ducked, avoiding an incoming kick. Quickly she pulled out two strings both with kunai at the ends of them and started twirling them in all sorts of patterns. She tried constantly to find a weak spot or an opening but she couldn't find a single one! Seconds later they were on the ground. She started grabbing another string with a whole row of kunai along it but before she could use it Luffy suddenly disappeared. Pausing a moment she tried to use all her senses to find him but it was as if he was never there. Suddenly a sharp pain burst through her stomach and she couldn't breathe. After several painful moments, she finally regained her breath. Stumbling backwards, her back hit the wall and she slid to the ground.

_Such speed and power! Who is this guy?_ April sat there stunned.

"Game…over." Zolo murmured.

April buried her face in her hands as tears silently ran down her face. She kept her head down so that the rest of the pirates didn't know. As the tears quickly dried, a shadow cast over her. Glancing up she saw Luffy with a wide grin on his face and his hand stretched out to her. She frowned and slapped it away as she got up from the ground.

"A deal's a deal. I'll join your little crew but I'm not going to be taking orders from the likes of you and I'm **definitely** not going to help you attack people."

"That's alright! I'll protect you whenever we get into a fight." Luffy said lightly, misunderstanding what she meant. For some reason, April's heart started to pound a little faster and her cheeks got warmer.

_W-what did he say? And why am I reacting like this? He's obviously lying. He's trying to lure me into some sort of security as a sick game! He probably could care less about what happens to his crew._ April shook herself after realizing this and focused on what was going on.

"Hey Zolo! Can you go with her to her house to make sure she doesn't run off or anything?" Luffy shouted towards the entrance of the alley where everyone was still standing. "She probably has some stuff that she wants to pack!"

"Why do I have to go?" Zolo asked lazily. Rubbing the back of his head he sighed. "Fine fine…"

"Thanks Zolo! I owe you one!" Turning back to April he said with a twinkle in his eye "I have a feeling we're going to have a lot of fun."

* * *

As April trudged up a dirt road towards her house with Zolo close behind, she was wondering how she was going to tell her parents.

_I'm sure they'll understand. Won't they?_

Up ahead she saw her family's lone house. It was white all over and very neat. They lived on top of a hill about a mile from the town. No one else lived up there though. Everyone thought it was most convenient to live in town.

Sighing, she entered the house. "Welcome to where I live. Make yourself at home."

Zolo leaned up against a wall near the door and looked around the room.

"I'm going to go start packing alright?" Before she got an answer she ran upstairs and into her room. Collapsing to her knees she looked at her room. There was nothing special about it. There was a small bed in one corner with a dresser in the opposite corner and a window that looked out towards the town and waters.

_What should I do? I don't want to be in a pirate gang! And if I try to run where would I go? I probably wouldn't be able to go far without that Zolo guy catching me. _Sighing April drew one of her prized daggers with trembling hands._ Well if I can't run I guess there's only one thing left for me to do. I'm sorry mom…dad._ Lifting the dagger high into the air she took a deep breath.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice came from the door behind her. Whirling around April stared at Zolo who was leaning against the door frame.

"Will you people just leave me alone!" She shouted throwing the dagger at his head. Zolo tilted his head and let the dagger fly by and strike the wall on the other side of the hall. Finally worn and exhausted, April lifted herself off the ground and started to pack, blushing slightly as she quickly packed her underwear but Zolo remained unfazed. Once she was done packing, the two headed downstairs and exited the house. Turning around, she looked at the house one last time, a tear running down her face.

Turning too he noticed something that he hadn't notice when walking towards the house.

"Is that..." Zolo trailed off

"Yea…" April whispered. "Come on. Let's go." As she continued to walk down the road towards the docks, she was walking away from her house and two stones that were planted in front of it.


	5. Chapter 5

Arriving at the docks she saw Luffy and everyone else on board a huge ship.

"April! Hey! Welcome to the Thousand Sunny! I'm sorry but you're going to have to sleep on deck until we can make some more room." Luffy called down.

"I'm sorry!" Franky leaned over the rail and called down along with Luffy. "I found some supplies to make room but **some people** couldn't spare a little money." He glared at Nami before continuing. "But there's a nice spot on deck that should be just fine."  
"It's fine it's fine…I actually prefer being outside." April shouted.

"Really? That's good to hear." Franky sighed with relief.

"Alright then. Let's set sail!" Luffy called out.

Later that night, when everyone was asleep, April lay awake staring at the stars. She couldn't get any sleep. She was tossing and turning and finally she gave up and decided to talk to her parents.

"Hey mom. Hey dad. It's been a while hasn't it? I'm sorry that I'm with pirates now. But you know I had no choice. I made a promise and you always taught me to never break my promises. Everything's so complicated now. I wish I never accepted that dual in the first place. I hope you can forgive me." After several more minutes, she finally fell asleep but that horrible night came floating into her dreams and there was nothing she could do about it.

_Fire and screams tore up the night sky as she sat motionless in the middle of the street. People were running, trying to get away from all the commotion._

"_April? April!" a woman shouted in her direction_

_April finally snapped out of her trance and looked at the woman who was running towards her. Lifted off her feet, she was being dragged through the town._

"_Mom? What's happening? Where's dad?" April hadn't seen her mom look so worried. It scared her._

"_Pirates are attacking. Your dad will be with us soon okay? But right now we need to get into the forest. Do you think you can do that?" _

_Nodding, the two finally exited the town and started running towards a different side of the island where it was cramped with trees and plants. After dodging a couple trees, they finally found a good spot to hide under the brush. _

"_You stay here alright? And don't come out until me or daddy comes, you understand?" The mom was panting hard._

_April tried to speak but nothing came out so all she did was nod._

"_Good. No matter what happens, know that we love you okay?" But before April could do anything, her mom kissed her on her forehead and dashed back in the direction of the town, daggers in hand._

And with that, the dream ended. That was the last time she ever saw her parents again.


	6. Chapter 6

**well as usual, i don't own this...soooooooo don't say i do cause you know i don't xD  
anyway sorry for the waiiiiiiiit...it's probably been about a year since my last update...school...need i say more? hope you like it and i hope i've improved, or else school has been a total waste for me xDD love you alll and i hope i haven't lost any of my old viewers and i hope to gain new ones too :) 3  
**

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The next morning April woke up at sunrise. She sat upright and looked towards the rising sun sleepily. She took a deep breath and smelt the fresh sea breeze and let it clear her mind of last night's nightmare. Getting up she changed her clothes and walked towards the front of the ship and continued to stare at the beautiful horizon. A few minutes passed before she heard the door opening behind her and someone walking out of the crew's quarters. April turned around and found Zolo striding out. She watched him slowly walk over to the side of the boat, not looking at her once.

Without turning Zolo spoke. "So what are you doing so early in the morning?"

"I could ask you the same thing." April replied sourly.

Zolo sighed and turned. He leaned against the rail but still didn't look at her. "Are you always this mean towards people?"

"Depends on the person."

"Like pirates?"

April didn't say anything. There was something about him that made her feel as if she could trust him. As if she could tell all her secrets to and he wouldn't judge or do a thing about them except for accept them. Maybe it was because he didn't look like he was all that interested in anything, so when speaking, she could tell her deepest darkest secret and he just wouldn't care. She had a little more respect for him than before. Finally she spoke.

"You know, you're different than what I imagined."

Zolo didn't even react "How so?"

April turned and strode over to him. She examined his face as if it would reveal some sort of answer to her puzzlement but all she could find was an emotionless expression.

"I don't know. There's just something about you…" She trailed off.

"Oi, back off!" Suddenly a voice shouted in her direction but April couldn't figure out from where. It was a woman's voice. She sounded to be around the same age as April. Zolo smiled and lifted himself off the rail. He looked up but before April could follow his gaze, someone dropped down from above and right in front of April.

"That's my man." April could hear a slyness in her voice and a small smile spread across her lips, showing she wasn't really threatened. Turning she ran to Zolo and they hugged tightly as if they hadn't seen each other for years. After their embrace, Zolo still held onto her waist and she, his.

April looked at her in surprise for a moment but before she could fully recover, the woman extended her hand. April extended hers without thinking and they shook.

"Welcome to the Straw Hats, April. My name's Blake. You've been through quite a lot lately, haven't you."

It was more of a statement than a question, but April still nodded, dumbfounded. The woman who went by the name Blake, was tall, around the same height as Zolo, and had soft brown eyes. Her black hair was tied in a neat bun with a kunai going through it. She was slim but had a little bit of muscle, that went well with her body.

"How do you know my name?" It was the only question that she could manage out but there were still tons more swarming through her head.

Blake laughed knowingly. "I do recon for the crew. I collect anything and everything there is to know about each island we're going to, who we're going to be up against and what the latest movements of other pirates/navy ships are. It was simple enough to learn my new crewmate's name."

April began collecting her thoughts. "Okay, well how did you get on this ship?"

"By boat." Blake replied simply.

"But you came from above! And normally I'm able to sense people when close enough, but I couldn't sense you at all!"

Blake smiled. "It's a part of my gift. When doing recon, it helps not to be noticed. That way I can eavesdrop and come and go into places as I please. I've trained myself ever since I was young to do this. I already set the boat inside the ship and climbed aboard but when I noticed you, I decided to have a little fun."

April eyed Zolo. "So that's why you woke up early this morning. To wait for her."

Zolo nodded, blushing slightly.

Blake giggled. "Well as much as this has been fun, I have to go report to the captain. I'll come back later with our breakfast. It's still a little too early for it now." She turned to Zolo and they kissed quickly but sweetly before she went inside to tell Luffy everything she learned about their new crewmate.


End file.
